Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2005 6:46 am Post subject: The "skinny" on College of the North Atlantic

Just wondering how things are around this place lately? The situation sounded less than ideal a couple of years ago but I haven't heard much lately. All I really know about them is that they are a Canadian community college from Newfoundland.

They are currently hiring a lot of teachers this year. The salary looks excellent but I was wondering if anyone had any information on housing, general job satisfaction, working conditions, management etc.

CNA stands for College of the North Altantic, from Newfoundland. Most teachers are hired within Canada because they must pay Canadian income tax. I know a couple of teachers who will be competing their contracts soon and don't plan to renew. Hours of work are long, and the mood amongst teachers isn't great. The villa's are adequate for Qatar, but it's quite far from the center and not much but desert around you. Although Qatar is a small country, so nothing is really all that far away from you. Teachers work long hours and management is very strict. They want the standards they have come to expect from their own students in Canada, so it's understandable.
I have met several teachers who work for them and none of them spoke postively about the work environment.
The salary is still decent, even after taxes, but if one doesn't enjoy where one works, then is the money really worth being miserable? Hmmmmmm, I need to think about..................

Thanks for the heads up. Recruiters are currently telling Canadian applicants that if they have " offical " non-resident status then they don't have to pay taxes. That makes the salary very attractive if you can get that. However, if management are a bunch of hacks then that is certainly enough to make you go hmmm indeed. God knows there are enough of them around these parts.

I checked CNA-Qatar website and there is no mention of hiring EFL teachers. There is a notice to hire EFL Instructional Assistants, which doesn't seem to be the same thing. It is also a cheap way to increase their EFL staff numbers.

When they interviewed me at the start of the Qatar project, the interviewers knew nothing about the Middle East tax advantages. They insisted that they had made some sort of arrangement with Revenue Canada, so staff would have to pay Canadian taxes. Still, with the 3 year contracts they are offering, it would seem possible to establish Non-Resident Status and not pay any taxes at all. Unfortunately, the interviewers didn't have any idea at that time. Perhaps they have educated themselves in the meantime.

Actually, there is a situation that Canadians can take advantage of, which is not well known. It is called the Overseas Tax Credit. If you are working for a Canadian company overseas, and will not be in Canada for 6 months a year, you only have to pay 10-15% in taxes, and you don't have to relinguish all the Canadian holdings, such as car and house. It is well worth it if your family is staying in Canada, while you are working overseas. But, you need an expensive tax accountant that specializes in this type of situation. You can't do it yourself, without raising suspicions at Revenue Canada. It must be done correctly.

By the way, the pay is very, very good with the CNA-Qatar. But a car will probably be needed to get around. The country is extremely boring and the Qataris are spoiled brats and will talk throughout class. So, hopefully the strictness expected by the management is also passed along to the students in one way or another. Sure would like to hear from some of those non-returning teachers.

Actually, there is a situation that Canadians can take advantage of, which is not well known. It is called the Overseas Tax Credit. If you are working for a Canadian company overseas, and will not be in Canada for 6 months a year, you only have to pay 10-15% in taxes, and you don't have to relinguish all the Canadian holdings, such as car and house. It is well worth it if your family is staying in Canada, while you are working overseas. But, you need an expensive tax accountant that specializes in this type of situation. You can't do it yourself, without raising suspicions at Revenue Canada. It must be done correctly.

By the way, the pay is very, very good with the CNA-Qatar. But a car will probably be needed to get around. The country is extremely boring and the Qataris are spoiled brats and will talk throughout class. So, hopefully the strictness expected by the management is also passed along to the students in one way or another. Sure would like to hear from some of those non-returning teachers.

Thank you about the Overseas Tax Credit. I had never heard of this before.

The pay was discussed once before on this site. I believe it was $50 000 - 60 000CDN, before taxes. Pretty good considering you wouldn't make that much in Canada as an EFL/ESL Instructor. Don't know what the current rate is.

I heard 70-80000 CA$ before taxes. If you can get that as a non-resident that is great. Even deducting 10-15% for that special rate for those residing outside of Canada but working for a Canadian company makes it attractive.

They also have a college pension plan. Don't know the details about this with respect to its availability.

They interviewed me by phone a few years ago. The pay mentioned was MUCH less than the figures bandied here and tax on top of it. Basically the Cdn pay scale on their web site with accomodation (also a taxable benefit) as the only perk.

They were such a disorganized, confused, uninformed group that I decided not to pursue it further.

As far as ESL teachers are concerned, there is a requirement for many ESL instructors at the college, since the level of English of the Qataris is generally very low. Jobs are posted on the CNA website - Newfoundland and on the ACCC website. I have taught ESL in other countries and know that you would not get the pay and benefits anywhere else that you get here. Salary is in the 70,000 - 80,000 Cdn dollar range with a non-taxable per diem on top of that of about 40 dollars Cdn. per day. The housing is free and non-taxable. Instructors also get a tax free transportation allowance - most people rent cars, some buy them. Instructors have to pay Canadian income tax because of a clause in the Canadian Income Tax act that requires "teachers" to pay tax even though they teach abroad, if they work for a Canadian organization. If an instructor has obtained non-residency status in another country, then they pay no tax. The college has been trying to get the Canadian government to drop this rule, to no avail so far. Most people I talk to are happy and have a good attitude about working at the college, and are proud of what they have accomplished in three years. The college is moving to a new campus in September, 21 buildings - student population will be doubling to about 1700. If instructors are so unhappy here, why are most of the 50 teachers whose contracts are expiring in June of this year applying to get their contracts extended?

One question, as I do know several people who have chosen not to extend their contracts with CNA and are happy to be leaving. As far as those who are extending their contracts, could it be because a few of them are aging, and also don't possess qualifications to be hired elsewhere where they'd be making so much money. Question, Is it possible that some of the "teachers" who were hired when CNA first opened wouldn't be qualified to work elsewhere? I knew of 3 individuals at the time who didn't possess many of the qualifications CNA were advertising for, however were probably hired because they were already in Qatar and no one knew what CNA was at that time. Seems strange to me that a place which is known for it's excellent standards in NFLD would hire teachers with just a TEFL certificate. I also wonder why places like Qatar Uni are required by the Ministry to hire only Master's, yet, CNA, part of Education City needs far less.??????

you said all hiring is done in Canada, so no teachers have been hired who were already in Qatar? Actually, it's true that it's basically a point system, all info about applicant is sent to NFLD and then they decide, still think it strange how some of the people who have been there from the beginning even got through the doors...